Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the translation
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- PART ONE The response to Chrétien: tradition and innovation in Arthurian romance
- 1 The stigma of decadence
- 2 Consolidation of the form
- 3 Changes in the relationship between ideals and reality
- 4 Knight or lover: Gawain as a paragon divided
- 5 Old matiere, new sens: innovations in thought and content
- 6 Aspects of the response to Chrétien: from plagiarism to nostalgia
- PART TWO A historical survey of the impact of Arthurian verse romances
- Bibliography
- Supplement to the bibliography
- Index
- CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
1 - The stigma of decadence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the translation
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- PART ONE The response to Chrétien: tradition and innovation in Arthurian romance
- 1 The stigma of decadence
- 2 Consolidation of the form
- 3 Changes in the relationship between ideals and reality
- 4 Knight or lover: Gawain as a paragon divided
- 5 Old matiere, new sens: innovations in thought and content
- 6 Aspects of the response to Chrétien: from plagiarism to nostalgia
- PART TWO A historical survey of the impact of Arthurian verse romances
- Bibliography
- Supplement to the bibliography
- Index
- CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
Summary
Brogsitter gives the following introduction to German post-classical Arthurian literature under the heading ‘Die Epigonenepen’ (The decadent epics'):
From the very beginning of the thirteenth century the great works of the Master were followed by a number of other Arthurian romances which, despite some fine individual details, reveal all too clearly that they are not independent creations or worthy successors in the great tradition of Arthurian epic, but merely imitations, and limited for the most part to the imitation of narrative elements. Overworked motifs and sequences of motifs are repeated indiscriminately, rearranged and sometimes even cobbled together in utter confusion to create epics that often grow to a considerable length. New characters are introduced to be assigned the plots and events of the classical works. Adventures follow upon adventures, but there is usually no attempt to restructure the material in a sensible way nor even to give it a meaningful wider context.
The history of scholarship shows that the study of thirteenth-century Arthurian romances has always been overshadowed by a preoccupation with the texts of the ‘Master’; this is true for France as well as Germany. Being labelled as ‘decadent’ was to prove their downfall, for this criticism became a commonplace and made access to them considerably more difficult. Thus the assessment of the late nineteenth century seems to remain largely unchallenged and is still found in histories of literature and works of reference.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Evolution of Arthurian RomanceThe Verse Tradition from Chrétien to Froissart, pp. 31 - 40Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1998